Friday, 11 December 2015

Friday Morning Ramble - 11.12.15

“Take sides! Always take sides! You will sometimes be wrong - but the man who refuses to take sides must always be wrong.” ~ Robert Heinlein

“Section 33 of the RMA - how devious Key plans to give water, property and power to iwis while claiming no national agreement.” Transfers of power – NGA TOKI TAIAO

If you’ve ever wondered what the real point of Nick Smith’s Special Housing Areas might be, Greg Canavan explains how it worked in Melbourne. Risk Free Property Gains for the Chosen Few – Greg Canavan, MONEY MORNING AUSTRALIA

“In a last ditch attempt to pay for his unaffordable vanity project, the City Rail Link, lame duck mayor Len Brown has decided to play the Grinch who stole Christmas one last time by targeting small businesses with a 145% increase in next year's targeted transport levy.” Brewer rips into Brown over plans to target rate small business owners – JO HOLMES.BLOG

“But also look at the correlation between being on a benefit for 5 or more years (cumulatively between ages 25-34) and being at extreme or high risk of poor outcomes.” Correlation between welfare and poor outcomes – LINDSAY MITCHELL

“Rarely is there any positive news coming out of North Korea. But today, the Washington Post reports on a hopeful new development in the Hermit Kingdom: the establishment of 20 “economic zones”, where residents will be allowed to experiment with capitalism.” North Korea Sets Up an Economic Zone – F.E.E.

“We cannot treat the word "fascism" as an empty insult. Fascism is the most successful ideology of the last century, and it is alive to this day.” Just look at the American presidential candidates . . . Waking Up to the Reality of Fascism – Jeffrey Tucker, ANYTHING PEACEFUL

We should all “keep a watchful eye on what world leaders say and do in Paris, starting Monday. The heads of 190 countries, including President Obama, are meeting for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change. Their goal is to reach an international agreement that will stall – or even reverse – human progress.” Paris climate talks threat to human progress – Alex Epstein, OC REGISTER

A 20-minute breakdown of why human beings have so much difficulty constructively discussing issues, especially energy and environmental issues, with one another--and the fundamental way to fix the problem. (To learn more and get the full course, go to www.energychampion.net) How to Talk to Anyone About Energy – Alex Epstein, YOU TUBE

“An individual’s life is not in any way made worse by other people having more money or opportunities than he has." The Equality Equivocation – Craig Biddle, OBJECTIVE STANDARD

"Capitalism not only works. It’s MORALLY superior. [my emphasis] Capitalism—consistently practiced (it isn’t today)—rules out the use of force in human relationships. It gets rid of the pressure group warfare, the power politics and the ugly spectacle of career politicians in both parties, as well as ideologically wrong “soft” dictatorships like the one we have now. Why? Because government, under capitalism, does nothing, other than protect the citizens from force and fraud, foreign and domestic." Capitalism: STILL the Unknown Ideal - Michael J. Hurd, LIVING RESOURCES CENTER

“Many grad students [and not just in] English suffer from a malaise without a name; the discipline has left them with feelings of confusion, inhibition and loss… Decades of anti-humanist one-upmanship have left the profession with a fascination for shaking the value out of what seems human, alive, and whole." When Nothing Is Cool – Lisa Ruddick, THE POINT

“There is no future for the world except through a rebirth of the Aristotelian approach to philosophy. This would require an Aristotelian affirmation of the reality of existence, of the sovereignty of reason, of life on earth—and of the splendour of man.” Leonard Peikoff on the future – EXALTED MOMENTS

Q: What's the appeal of Ayn Rand’s philosophy to adults? A: A philosophy for living on earth.

Every once in a while someone gets an advertisement really, really right. This is one of those times.

Louis Armstrong’s choice for his own funeral music.

Duke Ellington’s ‘thoughts’ about his late friend and musical partner, Billy Strayhorn.

2 comments:

"The Fed’s Painted Itself Into The Most Dangerous Corner In History—–Why There Will Soon Be A Riot In The Casino". This item rather gets lost in amongst all the other great articles. Perhaps needs a separate posting on Monday.If the several ponzi schemes do finally explode, then muslim threats might seem a minor nuisance in comparison. And I'm unsure whether fascist Trump might become more popular as some sort of saviour {after the financial tsunami} Thanks. Peter

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